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The Limits of Enterprise Autonomy: Enterprise Bargaining in the Australian Domestic Airline Industry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Mark Bray
Mark Bray*
Affiliation:
Department of Industrial Relations, University of Sydney
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Abstract

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This paper identifies a model of enterprise bargaining which has recently been advocated by some Australian employer groups. Under this ‘autonomous enterprise’model, ‘genuine’ enterprise bargaining is supposed to produce comprehensive agreements which set terms and conditions of employment which are company-specific. The experience of enterprise bargaining in the Australian domestic airline industry is then compared with that model. It is found that, contrary to the model, the two major airlines have negotiated enterprise agreements which are remarkably similar, with wage increases and workplace reforms following strong industry-wide trends. The explanation offered for the lack of enterprise autonomy focuses on both institutional factors and structural features of the industry’s product

Type
Research Article
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , June 1996 , pp. 132 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1996

Footnotes

*

Funding for this project came from the Australian Research Council and the Bowater Trust of Deakin University. The author wishes to acknowledge the contribution of the many airline employees, union officials and managers who contributed to this paper, although special thanks goes to Barry Robinson and Geoff Young. Thanks also to John Campling, Ed Davis, Russell Lansbury, Susan McGrath-Champ and Malcolm Rimmer for their comments on earlier drafts of the paper. Despite their assistance, the responsibility for remaining errors lies with the author.

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